I’m at a loss to figure out what the purpose of this ‘X-Men Origins’ series is.  If the audience is new readers who want an easily digestible look at the various X-Men’s origin stories, you’d think the stories would be more streamlined.  If the audience is long time fans, then you’d think the stories would do more with continuity.  And in either case, it would be nice if they were, well, more interesting.

This look at Cyclops’ origin takes some of the major pieces of the character’s history, and ignores others.  And while leaving out some of the twists and turns of the various retconned origins Scott Summers has acquired over the years, it would be nice if the scenes that were left were actually fleshed out or even connected to each other.  There’s a long argument between Scott and Magneto, for instance, that seems to have nothing to do with the character’s origin or with anything else in the book.  The only part of the story that rises above the general mediocrity is a nice scene between Scott and his younger brother Alex as they escape their parents’ crashing plane.  It would be great to have a book about the two brothers growing up over the years, but once Alex leaves he’s never mentioned again.

The art in this book, by a new-to-me artist, looks decent, though the presence of different inkers makes different sections look very different.  I think Matt Hollingsworth’s coloring is the best part. 

Overall, this is pretty skippable, unless you’re a big fan of the Summers brothers’ relationship — which, to me, is one of the most interesting family relationships in comics and always needs more attention than it gets.  That was enough for me to enjoy this book, but if you don’t care about that, I wouldn’t bother with this issue.  It won’t give you any new insight into Cyclops, though it’s comforting to know that whatever they retcon, Professor X will always be a jerk.  (“You and I were born with the special ability to be leaders” — who says stuff liike that about himself??)